Title: Cliffhangers
Pairing: Adam Lambert/Tommy Ratliff
Tags: Romance, Adventure, Shifters
BETA: TheSupernova
"Do you trust me?" Adam asked.
"Depends on why you're asking," Tommy answered.
Tommy hated heights. He was afraid of them. They made him sick and he tried to avoid them at all costs (airplanes excluded, so long as he could avoid taking a window seat).
The wind blew harshly down the cliff side, and he gripped Adam's hand tighter. They had been hiking in the woods, a few hours out of town when these thugs showed up. He wasn't entirely sure what they wanted, but their weapons and dire threats were telling enough. They chased them for almost an hour before Tommy had accidentally run himself off a cliff. It was only thanks to Adam's quick reflexes that he grabbed Tommy in time.
But the bandits weren't far behind, and Adam's hold on Tommy was dragging him over the cliffside as well. In a split decision, Adam chose to jump off the edge, and Tommy had a near heart attack until he saw Adam grab hold upon the edge of a rocky outcropping just below the ledge.
"Do you see them?" Bandit #1 asked. "They couldn't have gone far."
"Nowhere," Bandit #2 said. Tommy heard boots scuffling just above them. "They can't have just disappeared. Fan out; let's circle the area. Check the trees."
A bevy of affirmatives followed but Bandit #1 and #2 had decided to scout the immediate area first. Tommy could see Adam's hold slipping.
"They're not here," Bandit #1 gruffed out. "And no one is stupid enough to jump over the edge. That's a bloody death sentence."
Tommy didn't hear what they said next, but it was followed by a round of laughter before they made their way back into the woods.
"Do you trust me?" Adam repeated.
"With my life," Tommy answered immediately.
He never had to think about his life being in danger before; being a musician wasn't exactly a high-risk job. But dangling over the edge of a cliff, one hand away from certain death made Tommy rearrange his priorities. Like the realization that Adam wouldn't let him die, no matter the cost.
"Then let go."
Tommy looked up in surprise, but instead of arguing the point-he smiled.
"I trust you," Tommy said.
He only hesitated few seconds before he let his hand slip through Adam's fingers. Truth was, even though he was freaking the fuck out, falling to his death, he wasn't afraid. Adam would not betray him; it was a fact of life, just like how he knows the Earth rotates around the sun and he needs oxygen to survive.
Knowing he wasn't going to die while free-falling down the cliffside was beginning to make this entire experience feel like some fucked up version of an extreme sport. Tommy wasn't that a big fan of doing stupid things like skydiving and mountain climbing and he was more than positive that he wouldn't be any more akin to those sports then before (less so, in fact).
Tommy had expected his fall to be fast, a dead weight though the air but everything felt as if it were in slow motion. As Adam slowly drew farther and farther away, just before he faded out of sight entirely Tommy saw Adam push himself off the side of the mountain with his feet and jumped.
The transformation was slow. He saw Adam's arms and legs stretch out and the bones reform into the shape of a giant cat or dog. Adam's lower spine extended out from his lower back and his body's general bone structure changed. Adam's clothes were being absorbed into the skin, and he began growing striped orange fur all over his body. Adam's head elongated into a muzzle, ears sprouted from the top of his head and giant,pale orange feathered wings sprung out from Adam's back, catching the air.
Adam was a shifter. One he had never seen before: a large orange tabby with wings. He had to be at least double—almost triple—the size of a typical panther.
In seconds, the large, flying tabby swooped down and scooped Tommy up in his paws. Although Adam's claws were retracted, Tommy still felt a small pinch as they dug into his sides. Cat paws weren't exactly made for holding people up in the air.
They made towards the ground in a large, downward spiral; Adam's wings stretched out in a smooth, controlled glide.
Despite knowing that they were safe, the ground only twenty feet away and descending, Tommy hadn't allowed himself to breathe evenly until his feet touched the ground.
"Oh my god," Tommy released his breathe in a whoosh. "Sweet, sweet, heavenly ground."
Tommy's legs buckled beneath him, and he landed on his hands and knees; he would have kissed the ground, too, if he didn't find the very idea so repulsing.
"Tommy," Adam said softly. "I didn't mean to hide myself from you but I-"
He looked up to see Adam in his human form again. Adam was looking around nervously; it was a strange sight to see. Tommy sighed as he moved to stand up, with Adam's arms helping guide him the rest of the way.
"It's okay, I understand," Tommy said. "This isn't always the easiest thing to admit, especially if you're still having trouble accepting it."
"Yeah. This is only the third time I've transformed. Only twice before, as a child."
Adam refused to look at him, so Tommy placed a hand on Adam's cheek and waited until he had Adam's full attention.
"I'm not upset. We all have our secrets, and sometimes it's hard to open up to each other, no matter how long it's been." Tommy reassured him. "You would have told me when you were ready."
Tommy saw Adam's body visibly relax and a responding smile graced his boyfriends face.
"Come here, you," Adam growled, pulling Tommy's body against his. Their lips met, and gentle kisses turned into deep, spit-swapping tongue games, which lead directly into frantic, roaming hands.
After all, it's a well known fact that when you've just survived a near-death experience with your lover, you're expected to show a highly inappropriate level of Public Display of Affection first chance you get. Because that's just how it's done. And Tommy wasn't about to argue against the simple facts of life.
Prompt: Orange tabby. Hanging off a cliff while holding onto your best friend.
Note #1: I started writing this story in my creative writing class, and finished it at home. Because it was partly written under a time limit, it has a slight different "feel" to it.
Note #2: So, in an episode of Merlin (season 2, episode 9 "The Lady of the Lake"), Merlin helps a young girl named Freya escape from her captors. Freya can transform into this large, black panther with bat wings. Now imagine a large, orange tabby with (pale orange) feathered wings. That's Adam's shifter form. In case you were wondering.
Also, at some point Tommy responds to Adam's question of trust by saying "with my life." It's a play off of Merlin's words (in regards to Arthur) that he repeats multiple times throughout the series: "I trust him with my life."